NASCAR The Game: Inside Line looks better than last year’s model (preview)

Eutechnyx’s first stab at a NASCAR title was adequate. It filled a need in the genre after EA stopped producing proper entries for the motorsport in 2008. NASCAR The Game: 2011 featured the tracks and drivers that fans were expecting, but the problem was that it was bare bones. It was a paint-by-numbers racer with the minimum of features. It had a season and multiplayer modes and that was it.

On its second effort, NASCAR The Game: Inside Line appears to be the gaming that fans have been waiting for. I spoke with Ed Martin, an executive vice president of Eutechnyx, about the latest entry and he said the team focused on three things: multiplayer, career mode and challenges.

The improvements to each part of the racer is shaping up to be a step above last year’s entry. When it comes to multiplayer, Martin admits, “It wasn’t ready for prime time. It wasn’t robust.” This year, they plan on giving players a full 43-car field and the same experiences as the career mode.

Everything from the tracks down to the racing AI was redone for NASCAR The Game: Inside Line

THE COMPLETE EXPERIENCE: That means players will have the option of going through a full race weekend. That’s qualifying, duels (if necessary) and the main event. In addition, players will be able to customize their vehicles more and take those paint jobs and tweaks to the race proper. It’s something that the Forza series has done for years, but doing it with stock cars with all the advertisements strewn around gives the process a layer of authenticity.

The career mode will also undergo a major overhaul, Martin said. In the demo session, he showed off how instead of picking a profession race car drive like Dale Earnhardt Jr., players make their own competitor. They pick a number, and as they progress through the career and complete challenges, they’ll attract sponsors. The corporate element will give players money for completing several challenges. And that money will go to improving the car. It’s the circle of NASCAR life as players and their vehicles improve over career mode that can go on basically forever. There’s no cap to the number of seasons they can play.

There is some rubber banding in the game. Players who fall behind can easily catch up to the back of the pack.

A TWIST TO THE CHALLENGES: Lastly, the challenges themselves will get an upgrade. Using the official telemetry data from NASCAR, Eutechnyx was able to re-create the tracks in finer detail. They rebuilt them from the ground up. In addition, they ported the telemetry data to the AI drivers so that players can race against computers that drive like their real-life counterparts. “You can race a lap against Jimmy Johnson in Dover,” Martin said.

That data will go into the challenges in a similar manner as Madden Moments, where players are plugged into a real-life scenario, and they’re given the chance to replay history or rewrite. Martin gave the 2011 Brickyard 400 as an example. In that race, Paul Menard was leading on the last lap but, Martin said, “Jeff Gordon was coming at him like a freight train.” The big question that the Challenge Mode will try to answer is What if the two had one more lap to go? Would Gordon have won? Would have Menard been able to hold him off for a victory? That’s a question that NASCAR fans ask and one that they can answer when they pick up the controller.

Expect to see vehicles with alternate paint jobs. Eutechnyx promises that players will be able to race in cars that they see in this year’s races.

MORE CUSTOMIZATION: Checking NASCAR The Game: Inside Line out, I was impressed with how Eutechnyx faithfully reproduces the idiosyncrasies and details of the sport. Everything from how a hot day and cool night can change how a car runs during a long race to the unusual schedule of Daytona 500 Duels are taken to account. Players can even tweak their racing configuration on a course by course basis, and that’s something that should be mandatory given the variety of NASCAR tracks. Even the tires are different for each race. That’s a deep attention to detail.

One of the elements that Eutechnyx took out was the rivalry feature. Instead, all competitors will respond to how you drive. If go at the course aggressively, trading paint with the pack, then expect to be bullied around the course.

The other thing I noticed is that there is some rubber banding going on. Players who fall behind will notice how the AI lets them catch up in the race. They’ll still be in the back of the pack, but players can still compete. Martin hinted that there’s more in store for the game. Expect more improvements on NASCAR The Game: Inside Line when it’s released Nov. 6 on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

Gieson Cacho

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i think what would make the career mode in the new Nascar game even better. would be having the chance to own a four car team denpending on how much money you have. you start off as a driver, work your way up and then beable to do as tony stewart did

david whitworth

Did they fix the rubber baning on nascar on line you go to bump draft someone and you wreck them every time

Gieson Cacho

Justin that’s just some of the stuff they have planned. You’d be surprised by what else they’re cooking up. Trust me, there’s more to come.

I did ask about online racing teams. Ed Martin said they aren’t supporting anything like that. Maybe they’ll bring it to NASCAR 2013.

Gieson Cacho

David, I played an Alpha build so nothing was final but I did get in a few wrecks when I was drafting. But it was usually from behind.

Mark

In the career mode can we use any car number that are available?

Gieson Cacho

Hi Mark, you can use any car number that isn’t taken by another driver or retired.

Monte

In NASCAR The Game: 2011 when I’m playing online racing with friends a car in front of me will go up into the wall and completely disappear and then come back through the wall and back onto the track. I hope that this wont be an issue anymore in NASCAR The Game: Inside Line.

Kris

Do they plan on having a two player season? they old nascar games had that; me and my buddies loved it… they lacked a lot of multiplayer experience last year, so what are there plans to fix it?

JIM

is there nationwide and truck series?

clayton

does it have chase for the sprint cup like in 2008

PowerSlide n

Will you be able to use the xbox 360 racing wheel ?
wheel not good on 2001 game.
Can friends gather in a room before race starts ?
Set-up applied

PowerSlide n

Sorry 2011 game 🙂

Aaron McCabe

Can you use a created paint scheme in career mode and if not will you always be stuck with the sprint sponsored car?

KC

For Wii can you use the steering wheel for this game?

Jeremy

Yes you can use the Xbox wheel…but it’s the same as before…it has a mind of its own… Not worth using in this game. Unless you like spinning out on the back stretch.

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